Page 43

Story: Cameron & Rylan

“You know I feel the same way about you, right?”

“Really?”

Cameron would never get enough of Rylan smiling at him.

“Yeah. You make me happy and I find I want to share every part of my life with you.”

He paused, wondering if it was too early to talk about feelings. The kind that revealed Cameron wanted Rylan forever.

“What are you thinking about?”

Cameron bit into his bottom lip and worried it for a moment, before he blurted, “Do you believe that someone could fall in love with another within weeks of meeting them?”

The breath stuttered out of Rylan’s throat and Cameron cursed himself for bringing it up so soon after, well, both of them agreed they were boyfriends. On Rylan’s face was a look of astonishment, and maybe a little fear.

Oh, shit. Oh, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Rylan cleared his throat and Cameron halted his panic attack. He looked at Rylan and noticed his mouth tilted up in a smile as he reached down and laced their fingers together.

“I don’t think there’s a schedule when people fall in love.”

Cameron flinched and Rylan raised his eyebrow in question.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research.”

“Research on what?”

He cleared his throat. “To be honest, everything. Relationships, love, gay marriage, sex… gay sex.”

“You’ve researched sex?” Rylan sounded a little amused by that.

He shrugged. “I’m very analytical and need information about everything. So I researched because I don’t want to do anything that might hurt you or turn you off.”

Rylan leaned in and Cameron hunched down, curious. “What if I said I wanted to be inside you?”

Cameron nodded and had to force himself to stop after the fourth time. “I researched that and I’m… well, I would like you inside me.”

He’s beautiful when his cheeks stain with a flush.

And thoughts of sex with Rylan led to more thoughts of touching Rylan, tasting Rylan, and his body reacted to the visuals dancing around inside his head. He wiggled against the narrow seat, finding no relief from his limited movements, and tried to banish those thoughts until they got off the plane.

Rylan cleared his throat. “So, back to your question. Yes, I believe you call fall in love in a few weeks or even a day. You feel what you feel and there’s no need to justify to anyone. Why do you ask?”

Cameron smiled at Rylan’s answer.

“I was reading about romantic love and the euphoric feelings of a new relationship fade after two years and only after can a couple determine if they are compatible or not.”

As Rylan settled against Cameron’s chest to think about his words, he pulled the smaller man close and combed through what he knew versus what he’d read.

His parents had met in college and although they waited to get married until dad graduated, they committed to each other during their freshman year and dated exclusively throughout that time. And they were still together and as much in love as they were back then.

Although Cameron understood that love like what his parents shared existed, he also knew it was rare. His friend’s parents all divorced when they were in high school. Aaron once told him relief was all he felt when his parents separated during seventh grade because he couldn’t stand the fights and the tension. Tim had mentioned his parents fell out of love and Eric’s dad cheated on his mom and that killed any feelings she had for the man.

“Have you researched sexuality?” Rylan asked.

Cameron looked down and nodded.

“How do you identify?”